Archaeologists from the Penn Museum, working in collaboration with Egyptian researchers and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, announced on 27 March additional details regarding an earlier discovery of a large tomb belonging to an unidentified pharaoh at the Anubis Mountain necropolis in Abydos. The discovery is expected to contribute to ongoing research into a lesser-documented period of ancient Egyptian history.
The tomb, discovered in January, is estimated to be around 3,600 years old, nearly 23 feet below the surface in Abydos, one of ancient Egypt’s oldest cities. Located approximately 300 miles south of Cairo, Abydos served as a burial site for early pharaohs, with a necropolis later forming at Anubis Mountain, just south of the city.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, highlighted the importance of these two finds. He noted that the newly discovered royal tomb in Abydos offers fresh evidence about the evolution of royal burial practices in the Mount Anubis necropolis, linked to the Abydos Dynasty—rulers of Upper Egypt between 1700 and 1600 BCE.
The name of the king who was once buried in the tomb was originally written in hieroglyphs on plastered bricks at the entrance of the burial chamber, accompanied by painted images of the sister goddesses Isis and Nephthys.
However, according to Dr. Josef Wegner, a professor of Egyptian archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the lead excavators, the inscriptions have been damaged over time, likely due to ancient tomb robbers, and the king’s name no longer survives. Wegner noted that possible candidates include rulers such as Senaiib and Paentjeni—kings known from Abydos-era monuments who ruled during this period but whose tombs have yet to be discovered.
Professor Mohamed Abdel Badie, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, said that early analysis suggests the tomb predates that of King Senebkay, whose burial site was uncovered in 2014. The structure is notably larger than any previously known tombs associated with the Abydos Dynasty.
While the identity of the pharaoh remains unknown, the tomb was found approximately 7 meters underground. It features a limestone burial chamber topped with mudbrick vaults that originally rose nearly 5 meters high. Decorative elements include faint inscriptions near the entrance. The style of these decorations closely resembles those found in King Senebkay’s tomb.
Excavations will continue throughout 2025 across a newly designated 10,000-square-meter (over 100,000-square-foot) area of desert terrain. The team is using advanced technologies including remote sensing, magnetometry, and photogrammetry to investigate the site and develop three-dimensional models of the tomb structures.
Since 1967, the Penn Museum has conducted ongoing excavations at Abydos, a site renowned for housing the tombs of Egypt’s earliest pharaohs (circa 3000–2800 BCE). In 1994, the museum’s focus shifted to the mortuary complex of Pharaoh Senwosret III, featuring an 800-foot-long subterranean tomb that marked a transition from pyramid structures to hidden royal tombs.
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